A color image is usually obtained in the following manner. A color light-sensitive material is applied with a color reproduction in a subtractive color system having generally been used. After exposing imagewise the light-sensitive material to light, the exposed silver halide grains thereof are developed with a color developer. The oxidant produced of a color developing agent is reacted with each of yellow, magenta and cyan dye couplers. Next, a color image can be obtained by bleach-fixing and then by washing or stabilizing the light-sensitive material.
Such a color image obtained as mentioned above has been required to be improved in image quality and, particularly, in the color tone of a highlight portion and in image background.
Besides the above, a technique for making use of an anti-irradiation dye and a technique for making use of a black colloidal silver have been disclosed as a technique for improving an image-sharpness. However, these techniques have had such a problem that a sensitivity is seriously lowered, and that a stain may remain in a white background after completing a process. For the purpose of preventing an image-sharpness deterioration from a reflective support, Japanese Patent Publication Open to Public inspection (hereinafter referred to as JP OPI Publication) Nos. 54-46035/1979, 2-28640/1990 and 3-89340/1991, and JP Examined publication Nos. 59-820/1984 and 2-29203/1990, for example, disclose the light-sensitive materials in which the filling factor of a white pigment is increased in a resin-coated layer of the base paper of the above-mentioned reflective support, or a hydrophilic colloidal layer containing a white pigment is provided thereto. However, these light-sensitive materials have been proved to still have such a problem that the contrast in a toe portion and/or the color tone in a highlight portion are varied when a replenishing amount is in short or a processing condition is varied, for example, when a developer is fatigued.
On the other hand, as a method for obtaining a color proof from a plurality of black-and-white halftone-dot images obtained by color-separating a color image and then by converting the color-separated images into halftone-dot images in a color plate-making and printing process, there have so far been the known methods such as an over-lay method in which a color image is formed by making use of a photopolymer and a diazo compounds and a surprint method.
The over-lay method has such an advantage that the operability thereof is very simple and the color proof-making cost is inexpensive and that the resulting color proof can be used only by superposing four colored film sheets (in three subtractive elementary color mixture and in black) one upon another. However, this method has such a disadvantage that a gloss is produced by superposing the film sheets and, therefore, that the texture becomes different from that of the resulting printed matter.
The surprint method is to superpose certain colored images on a support. As for this type of methods, the method has been known from U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,582,327, 3,607,264 and 3,620,726, in which a colored image can be obtained by utilizing the adherence of a photopolymer material and then by making a toner-development.
A method for preparing a color proof has been known from JP Examined Publication No. 47-27441/1972 and JP OPI Publication No. 56-501217/1981, in which an image is transferred to a support by making use of a light-sensitive colored sheet and an image is formed by making an exposure and then a development and, thereafter, another colored sheet is laminated thereon and the same process is then repeated.
A method for making a color-proof has been known from JP OPI Publication No. 59-97140/1984, in which each light-sensitive colored sheet is used and each color-separated film corresponding to the colored-sheets is exposed and then developed and, thereafter, each of the resulting colored images is transferred to the top of a support so that each of the color-proofs can be formed. Each color tone of the resulting color-proofs resembles those of a printed matter, because the toners and colorants of the colored sheets for forming the above-mentioned images have such an advantage that the same colorant as a printing ink can be used.
However, the above-mentioned methods have such a disadvantage not only that plural images have to be superposed and transferred, but also that the operations will take a long time and the production will cost too much.
As for a method capable of solving the above-mentioned disadvantages, JP OPI Publication Nos. 56-113139/1981, 56-104335/1981, 62-280746/1987, 62-280747/1987, 62-280748/1987, 62-280749/1987, 62-280750/1987 and 62-280849/1987 disclose each a method for preparing a color-proof by making use of a silver-salt color photographic light-sensitive material having a white support.
In the above-mentioned method, the following color image is used as an image for making a proof. A color image formed in such a manner that a plurality of color-separated black-and-white halftone-dot images, which were formed by converting a chromatic color original into plural color-separated halftone-dot images, the B/W halftone-dot images are printed one after another by way of a contact-printing or the like and are then color-developed; thereby, the color image is formed of dyes produced imagewise of couplers.
However, in the above-mentioned technique, there is such a disadvantage that a halftone-dot reproduction is liable to be varied particularly in an image area having a narrow halftone-dot area. Particularly when the development conditions should be varied, the above-mentioned variation becomes serious and, therefore, the improvements thereof have been demanded so far.
When a light-sensitive material having a hydrophilic colloidal layer containing a white pigment, of which described in the foregoing JP OPI Publication No. 2-29203/1990 and JP Examined Publication No. 59-820/1984, such light-sensitive material is simply used as a light-sensitive material for a color-proof use, it was proved that a fine-dot reproduction in an area having a narrow halftone-dot area, the color reproduction of a fine image such as that of a hair, and a white background are each deteriorated, when carrying out a running photographic-processing or a preservation of a raw sample.